Sluice-box



J. H. RAE. SLUIGE BOX.

(No Model.)

No. 386,030. Patented July 10, 1888.

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULIO H. RAE, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SLUlCE-B O X.

s ecimen-non forming part of Letters Patent No. 386,030, dated July 10, 1888.

Y I Application filed April 5, 1886. Serial No.197,784. (No mm.

To aZZ whom .it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JULIO H. RAE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sluice-Boxes for Saving Gold, & c., of whichthe following is a specification.

' lacer h draulic andriver minin and'the p 7 i b7 inventionconsists in certain details of con-' tion of the bottom of the sluice-boxes.

struction hereinafter set forth, and pointed out in the claims. 7

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section through a sluice-box and apparatus embodying my invention, parts being shown as broken away. Fig. 2 is a plan orftop View of the sluice-box. views of various grisleysor gratings. is an enlarged section showing the construe Fig. 7 is a side view of a riffle for breaking or retarding the flow of water in the sluieebox. Figs. 8 and 9 arerespectively longitudinal and transverse vertical sections showing the electric or amalgamating wheel placed at the end of each section of the sluice-box.

A A AtA represent sections of a sluicebox over one end of which is erected abox or case, B, in which are supported three grisleys or grates, O D E, one over the other.

The material to be worked is deposited upon the upper grate, Q, the space between the bars of whichI prefer to be about two and one-half inches, so as to retain the bowlders or large rocks, which, after being well washed, are removed by a rake or shovel. The spaces between the bars of the grate D, I prefer to be about one inch and the spaces between the bars of the grate E about one-quarter of an inch, so that all the coarser rocks and stones will be removed from the material before it reaches the first section, A, of the sluice-bar.

The bottom of the sluice-box is composed of, say, two-inch plank, a, (see Figs. 1 and 6,) with grooves I) cut transversely therein, fOfllling what I term wells, preferably about four-feet apart. Upon this bottom is placed Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are plan Fig. 6

matting or cloth, -c, ovcr which are perforated iron plates d.

The object of the matting or cloth is to retain any fine gold, amalgam, or floured quicksilver that may have passed through the perforated plates d, and the wells b are for receiving any extra quicksilver that may have accumulated beneath the matting, the iron plates 11 serving to protect the matting and any deposit of gold,amalgam,or floured quick;

silver that may have passed through.

The sluice-box is also provided with the or-"' the front side with projections h. The riffles H are used alternately with the ordinary riffles, F G, or as frequent as may-be. required for breaking, backing,-or retarding the flow of water if by accident the sluice-box should become too full or the flow of water too rapid.

At the end of each section of the sluice-box is Iitted a water-wheel,l,the buckets i of which are made detachable and are of copper amalgamated with quicksilver, the same as the cop- ..pers of a stamp-mill. Above the wheel I is fitted a bar, J, provided with a series of fingers, j j, that extend down nearly to the bottom of the sluice-box. The bearings of both the shaft J and the shaft that carries the water-wheel I are insulated from the riser of the sluiee-box,and the positive wire K from a battery or other electrical source is in connection with the bar J, and the negative wire L is in connection with the shaft of the water-wheel I, the watermaking the electrical connection between the two. By this arrangement any floured quicksilver, amalgam, or line gold that may be in the water will be arrested and retrical wheel or amalgamator maybe used in connection with the sluice-box of any quart-zmill.

I am aware that woven-wire genre or am 2 aaoeo garnated perforated sheet metal with cloth or canvas under the same have been employed in combination with a sluice-box, and that magnetic and amalgamated fans have been em- 5 ployed; and, further, that a series of revolving and stationary electrodes, (anodes,) in combination with rifiles containing mercury, have also been employed in combination with a sluice-box. These I do not claim; but 5 What I claim as my invention is- 1. The riflle H, raised in the center and provided with projections h on one side of said raised center, in combination with a sluicebox, substantially as shown, and for the pur- 5 poses described. 7

JULlO H. RAE.

\Vilnesses: J. H. ADAMS,

ABEL G. \VHIT'riEn. 

